Survey – November 2024
Report Published – February 2025
Following our survey in September 2023 to assess the financial health of the independent film exhibition sector, we wanted to follow up with cinemas in 2024 to see if their financial position had changed. Looking at box office data for 2024, we can see that admissions are increasing year-on-year since 2020 but have not reached their pre-pandemic levels. Cinemas also continue to face economic pressures of reduced public funding and rising costs.
In November 2024 we conducted a survey of independent film exhibitors in the UK to gather a clearer picture of their financial health and priorities, as well as feedback on what, if any, interventions might be most helpful to them. We had 121 responses to the survey. The following data is a summary of responses from independent cinemas. Most respondents were located in England, but there were responses from all four nations in the UK, and 100% of respondents were in leadership. Nearly half of independent cinemas surveyed say they need further financial assistance, and capital funding was one of the most requested measures of support.
This data has been submitted to the UK Parliament Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s Inquiry on British Film and High-End Television and to the Department for Business & Trade’s consultation on the green paper for the UK’s modern industrial strategy.
Please note, this report is a top-line summary of our survey. If you’d like to discuss these results further, please contact us at: info@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk
Key findings
- 60% of respondents said they were not meeting their income targets for the financial year 2024-2025. On average respondents were 13.5% under their income targets
- 65% of respondents said their expenditure was as budgeted for the financial year 2024-25
- 48% of respondents said they were operating with a loss for the financial year 2024-25, an increase of 3% compared to September 2023. The majority of those projected a loss of between 11-15%
- 46% of respondents said they need further financial support to remain operational
- The top three most requested types of support were a reduction in sales VAT, grants for capital funding and grants for operating expenses. The need for capital funding has increased by 8% from September 2023
- The most requested interventions to help growth were capital funding, lower terms from distributors, a reduction in sales VAT, and grants for operating expenses.
- The areas of growth respondents cited that they would be able to achieve were bringing in new audiences, showing more films to a wider range of audiences and organising more events in their local community
- The most cited barriers to growth were reported as rising costs, reduced audiences, a lack of high-performing titles and a lack of funding.
This survey was undertaken by the Independent Cinema Office with the support of the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery. We would like to thank all of the cinemas and venues who participated in the survey and shared their data with us.